We wrapped
up the Right Bank with a few morning visits. Our tasting at Chateau Teyssier
was perhaps a little disappointing. The Teyssier itself is good and honest and
there’s plenty to admire.
The flagship Le Dome seems to have taken a backward
step. Recent vintages have lent more towards elegance and a less-extracted
style. It seemed like the 2016 was a super-charged, massive Le Dome, although
probably made with greater precision than wines of the past. The tannins are
big and gravelly – time will tell if this works.
Frederic
Faye welcomed us to Figeac, an estate reborn. In truth, the wines never really
went off the boil, but their over-ambitious pricing in 2009 and 2010 lost them
a few friends. Now working with superstar oenologist, Michel Rolland, the wines
are better than ever and are becoming much sought after. We loved the 2016 and it
sent us on our way to La Pointe for the UGC Pomerol in good spirits. Alas, this
mood was short lived. The UGCs on the Right Bank are becoming a bit of an
irrelevance for us. So many of the top estates have excused themselves, there’s
only a handful of wines to taste, and many of these don’t cut the mustard.
Gazin was the standout star in Pomerol – a really handsome, serious wine with a
good future ahead. One of the estates that has headed for the door was La
Conseillante, so we dropped in for a quick unscheduled stop, and we were very
glad that we did. After a string of disappointments (for us anyway), the 2016
sees Conseillante back to its very best – a really classy, refined Pomerol with
just the right amount of make-up; it’s authentic, pretty and very well groomed.